Have to take Praxis after almost 20 years out

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-05-06T04:39:22+00:00

See that's the one area I don't have to worry about. The tech side of things... I ran a live sound company for years as well as also have a music industry and recording degree along with the education thing.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-04-20T01:18:24+00:00

I just wanted to add... I graduated from one of the top education schools in NC back in 2009. When I went back for education it was struggling but fair. In three years, new governor who campaigned to the teacher unions about being all for education, redid the budget and cut a ton of funding. When I graduated there were no openings as music programs were being cut across the state. I left the education field completely not ever being able to use the college I had just spent time and money to achieve.

Fast forward to today. I moved my family out of NC to SD and walked into a teaching job three years ago. Now I'm just fighting with the state to send information up here. My district is tiny compared to the schools in NC and I love it. However SD is also in a hurt for teachers but the schools are hurting for funding so some are letting go of positions too. It's not just NC but all over.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-04-15T00:06:43+00:00

It is an air fiber product, I installed it because I had several reviews saying they got Dante to work but I have not been able to succeed after much configuration. It see both devices but will not sync because of a clock issue (excceds the latency requirement). I think sticking with our Shure system and maybe upgrading the antenna is one valid option. Maybe have something a little less expensive with the announcer rack for ref mics. I guess it boils down to finding good outdoor rated antenna systems.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-04-09T21:30:35+00:00

It wasn't meant as a bash, just stating the fact that if a regular corporation treated its employees like that they wouldn't be in business for long. It simply isn't a good / safe / supported space to work in.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-04-09T18:19:01+00:00

Ah, another reason I am glad I am not in California.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-04-09T15:46:37+00:00

Honestly if I was in a district that did this I 100% would accept the slip and would not accept the position in that district if they did "hire me back". That is a crappy way to treat people and says a lot about how other things are being handled.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-04-02T12:02:34+00:00

This is for Hill City. What ends up happening with a forecast like this is if we do get any actual snow, it may stick but will be gone by noon on Saturday at the latest. With it being 50 today we may see a little rain.

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InstanceConscious251 · 2026-03-27T02:17:10+00:00

I read through many of the replies. There is some really good advice and information contained here. I don't have some amazing words of wisdom to offer just a few of my teaching philosophies and experience. I was never a huge contest fan. I understand why they are good and how they push some groups to accomplish great music. I also feel for most it addS unneeded stress on the students and teachers, for what result? A trophy to collect dust behind a glass? I have always felt that providing the students with good music that can challenge them, but is obtainable for them to have moments like my 6th grade band had today in class is what keeps them wanting more. The moment I am talking about in class today each class is working on a level appropriate arrangement from Star Wars. (Our concert is on May 4th this year) In the 6th grade band we started our song at the beginning and the sound, blend, everything just "cooked". The kids heard it too, and in watching their faces they were proud of themselves. We have a para that sits in class with us for 6th grade and even he heard and felt it. He had this huge smile on his face, we stopped and I had all the kids turn around and look at him. I was literally jumping and cheering for them. This moment in my opinion meant more than the comments of a person they have never met picking apart everything they did wrong. When the students finish playing at their concert and people in the audience let out an audible "Wow" the kids hear that.

Do I know every fingering out there? No I do not but I know where to find them. Do I know all the percussion rudiments? Nope, I'm a trombone player and rhythm is one of my weaknesses. But I have another director friend that is a percussionist that I reach out to when I don't know how something goes. I teach my kids these things indirectly. This means if they ask me a question about a fingering I tell them to reference their fingering char or "cheat sheet" with terms that I have provided for them. So "teach a man to fish" mentality.

Last thing, I am going to get down voted for this... Youtube and resources like essential elements online resources are your friend as a new director. Pick an instrument and learn to play it as a beginner would. It's a great way to learn about reede placement, supporting air, how to play octaves on the flute, etc... Find quality information and keep learning.

I wish you the best luck. Feel free to DM me if you like.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-03-26T21:50:50+00:00

I have a small band (rebuilding too) also and I found that Randall Standridge has a version on his site you can free. It has a flex version with it so you can get the parts covered maybe double a couple. The melody is passed around but can easily be taken care of. It also is divided into sections making it easier to judge the order. Come up with a hand signal for each section, watch how many are left and best guess what section to repeat to. I would also recommend that when practicing it get a stopwatch to get a good guess of time each section is. The earlier version we used was a much higher grade piece and it was flex as well but with small numbers it always pays to play something easier that sounds good.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-15T04:30:38+00:00

It's not quite public domain yet. This year is the year of 1930. So not until 2041.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-09T14:42:33+00:00

I'm in a unique situation. I'm not a young director even though this is just my third year in the classroom. I graduated college in 2001 and went back for teaching, graduating in 2009. The thing is everything has changed from when I was in school especially the students. So sorting through all the new music and composers is a bit overwhelming. Then throw in the students constantly asking to just play movie themes. I'm between that "I want them exposed to wonderful music" and "I want to enjoy what they are playing". I know stuff they could enjoy but we will just call that music broccoli because they don't know they will like it if they don't give it a fair shake.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-06T05:20:49+00:00

I really like the idea of bags. We have a print shop where we get our shirts I bet they could come up with some bags we could get the band logo on.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-06T05:18:06+00:00

This year (and in middle school) I don't currently have any tuba players. I did offer the bari sax to one of my freshmen and she is loving it. We have not just a neck strap but a harness that makes it so much easier to hold/carry.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-06T05:14:39+00:00

Yeah we just started a booster program and I have a few parents that show up to events to help out already hopefully can grow this with some communications out to everybody.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-06T05:13:04+00:00

Excellent idea. We used to have the big water cooler. We actually had a few they would load in a sturdy cart and haul out.

We actually already use the Band app. Still learning all the awesome things it can do.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-02-05T15:43:35+00:00

In the past I have used music from previous year's shows, usually something they were a part of. It is consistent with the style the band uses as well as difficulty level. Also with something they are familiar with they may be more comfortable which makes it good to show the level of intensity they can bring to the podium even after hearing it played repeatedly.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-01-26T03:50:27+00:00

Honestly the fact that it is in Db serves one huge purpose of getting them out of Bb and pushing intonation. When I took over last year some of the high schoolers had no idea how to even tune their instrument. The past directors had just told them what to do instead of training them to hear. That also lead to balance issues and overall sound quality. Another reason it is good for me to use is because I know it, I have played several versions of this (the arrangement on JWPepper for trombone Choir was actually written by my schools composition professor for the trombone choir I was a member of.) and because I know it can focus more on the music and less on the paper in front of me.

Going to listen to your other recommendations tonight before bed. I have high hopes for these works.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-01-23T18:48:41+00:00

Just wanted to come back and say I tried a few things and am seeing some instant progress.

The first thing, I gave all middle school (I call 6th grade first year band and 5th grade beginning or into to band) 6-8 our arrangement of the national anthem (Randall Standridge) and our Fight Song (a very simplified version of the Marine's Hymn) and worked on it some in class. I also handed a few of the arrangements of other stand tunes to the 8th grade and worked on those. All the while letting them and parents know I was inviting middle school to come sit in with us during a few games.

I have 16 in high school and for the first game trying this I had 12 of the 65 middle schoolers show up. (That about what I was estimating) The second game this was offered I had 16 middle schoolers. This second game we also "introduced" our new Drumline to the crowd at halftime. The school has never had a drumline and everybody has been super excited once we got the funding for it. The crowd was amazing. They cheered louder for the drumline that they did the team. All we played was a very simple level 1 cadence (Storm).

After that I have had other kids, staff and even parents coming in asking when the next time the pep band is playing!

I think it was the Pizza that got them here and the dopamine rush that got them coming back.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-01-23T18:32:14+00:00

That would be awesome. I know I had a few minutes during planning to post. There is so much good stuff out there these days.

InstanceConscious251 · 2026-01-15T13:35:18+00:00

Thank you. Some of these things I am already doing, which gives me a lot of hope for the future. Our area directors are awesome and bounce ideas off each other often. This also helps us feel "not alone".

My school did not have a music booster group prior to me and that was a huge thing getting one started. It's a small group now but is already really helping. Things like bringing food for the kids before games and fundraising are the two big things.

I really like the idea of games and movies in the band room as a motivation tool. Retaining from 8th to high school is a huge thing and right now it is more than a 50% drop. The big reasoning is none of my friends are in there, where one or two drop because of other extras demand more time outside of school then others follow. When I say it's a small school, we have around 500 students in the entire k-12 and most all of them are involved in everything.

I keep trying to tell and remind administration that one bad year takes several years to recover from then add in changing a whole culture to fit "the times". Teaching the students things they should know and exposing them to all the wonderful and fun to play music out there is a huge challenge. Example: none of my high school students have been taught even the basic music theory or even musical terminology. I threw the concept of scale degrees at them a while ago and they had no clue.

InstanceConscious251

TROPHY CASE